Railing light



D. l. LANMON Oct. 18, 1955 RAILING LIGHT 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed NOV. 6. 1952 n... M5 MM@ Lm 4 m m d .w vn f m/ fw/ m W1' Pues/5 Oct. 18, D' LANMON RAILING LIGHT Filed Nov. 6, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheetv 2 ffl United States Patent C RAILING LIGHT Dwight I. Lanmon, Des Moines, Iowa Application November 6, 1952, Serial No. 319,025

6 Claims. (Cl. 240-2) My invention relates to the art of lighting porches or stoops of buildings such as dwelling houses and the like. Specilically, I have invented alight that is combined with a railing and is substantially concealed therein.

In recent years, there has been a very denite trend toward better lighting for stairs, porches and stoops. Home, store and factory builders have made denite strides in trying to improve the lighting of these entrance structures. In some cases, the lights have been mounted in stair risers and the like to place the light directly on the stair surface. Stair riser lights or even those placed at the side of, but on the level of the stair are subjected to breakage by accidental kicking or the like. Further more, on long stairways the riser lights tend to shine in the eyes of those trying to ascend the stairs. On the other hand, the traditional overhead light tends to cast a shadow on the stairs and cause them to be hazardous. Numerous lawsuits have originated over poorly lighted stairs of the like.

In view of the foregoing, therefore, it is the principal object of my invention to provide a railing light that will light stairs and porches adequately without danger of accidental breakage.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a railing light that is easily serviced in the event of bulb failure.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a railing light that is inexpensive to manufacture, durable in use and refined in appearance.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a perspective View of the end paling and a fragment of the railing secured to it, with my light incorporated in the railing structure,

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective exploded view of my light with a portion of the paling broken away to more fully illustrate the construction of the light,

Fig. 3 is a still further enlarged vertical sectional view of a portion of the paling and of the light shown in Fig. 1 and taken on the line 3-3 of that figure, and

Fig. 4 is a side elevation view of a set of steps partially in section and with a railing incorporating my light secured thereto. The scale used is a reduced one.

Referring to the drawings I have used the numeral to designate a railing paling formed from a channel member and having a majority of the length of its open side closed by the long element 12 and the short element 14 which leaves the opening 16. At the rear of this opening is the hanger pin 18 which embraces the key hole slot 20 in the U-shaped bracket 22. The bracket is hung on the pin and serves to support the socket 24 which is secured thereto in the conventional manner by rice the nut 26. The free ends of the U-shaped bracket have lens tip pockets 28 and 30 formed thereon. vThe ends of lens 32 are received in these pockets and secured thereby. Over the lens glass and overlapping the edges of it that extend beyond the thicker center portion 34 is the lens frame 36. A lug 38 is formed at its lower end to enter and engage the top inside of the long element 12 and thus secure the lower end of the frame to the paling. The screw 40 extends through the hole 42 in the top of the lens frame and into the threaded well 44 in the short element 14. The bulb 46 is of the conventional type that is used in counter displays and the like, but it may be of any suitable type such as fluorescent or the like. When the light and its supporting railing are mounted on a stoop or steps that is newly constructed and formed out of concrete such as the ones designated 4S in Fig. 4, the channel is integrally formed with the steps as shown in that gure. A conduit such as the one designated 50 is also embedded in the concrete to protect wires 52 and conduct them to the light. The palings that form the balance of the railing 54 are shown in Fig. 4 as being thin wrought iron or the like. In the case of a long set of steps, a paling incorporating a light is used at regular intervals to provide a continuous lighting of the stairs or the like.

As can be seen from the structure clearly shown in Fig. 4, the rail light I have invented placed the light in a position that provides adequate direction of the light rays onto the stairs and at the same time is not subject to accidental breakage. Since the light is held at a level above that usually reached by the feet, there is little Adanger of the lens being kicked. Since the railing requires some support at the point where my railing light paling is placed, there is but small added cost in placing the light in the paling. The ease of removing the bulb 46 in the event that it needs replacement should be fairly obvious. Screw 40 is removed and the lens frame can then be swung down and pulled out to release lug 38. As soon as the lug is released, the frame is readily pulled upward and forward to release it from the frame entirely. Once the frame is removed, it is a simple matter to slide the U-shaped frame up and unhook it from the pin 18. Wires 52 are made long enough to permit the lamp to be pulled out of the channel and the bulb 46 replaced. It should also be appreciated that while I have called my light a railing light, it can be used in a single post such as one that is used to support a mail box or the like.

From the foregoing description, it should be obvious that I have invented a railing light which achieves at least the principal object of my invention.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my railing light without departing from the real spirit and p'urpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

1. In a railing light, a channel member, elements secured across a portion of the open side of said channel member and leaving an elongated opening therein near its top, a pin secured to said channel on the side opposite to the opening in said channel, a bracket having a key hole slot therein adapted to engage said pin and hang thereon, a lighting means secured to said bracket, a lens covering said opening, and a lens frame detachably secured to said channel over said lens to secure said lens in place.

2. In a railing light, a channel member, a pin secured to the inside back of said channel member, a U-shaped bracket having a key hole slot therein engaging said pin and hanging said bracket thereon, pockets formed on said U-shaped bracket and facing each other, a lens having tips embraced by said pockets, a lighting means secured to said bracket, and a lens frame detachably secured to said channel over said lens to secure said lens in place.

.3. In a railing light, a channel member, elements` ser cured across a portion of the open side of said channel member and leaving an elongated opening therein near its top, a pin secured to said channel on the side opposite to the opening in said channel, a bracket having a key hole slot therein adapted to engage said pin and hang thereon, a lighting means secured to said bracket, a pair of pockets secured to said bracket and having their openings facing each other, a lens having its ends embraced by said pockets and a lens frame detachably secured to said channel over said lens to secure said lens in place.

4. In a railing light, a channel member, elements secured across a portion of the open side of said channel member and leaving an elongated opening therein near its top, a pin secured t0 said Channel on the side opposite to the opening in Said channel, a bracket having a key hole slot therein adapted to engage said pin and hang thereon, a lighting means secured to said bracket, a pair of pockets secured to said bracket and having open sides facing each other, a lens secured to said bracket by having its ends embraced by said pockets, and a lens frame covering the edges of said lens and detachably secured to said channel member.

5. In a railing light, a channel member, elements secured across a portion of the open side of said channel member and leaving an elongated opening therein near its top, a pin secured to said channel on the side opposite to the opening in said channel, a bracket having a key hole slot therein adapted to engage said pin and hang thereon, a lighting means secured to said bracket, a pair of pockets secured to said bracket and having open sides facing each other, a lens secured to said bracket by having its ends embraced by said pockets, and a lens frame covering the edges of said lens and detachably secured to said channel member; said lens having a thicker portion that extends through said lens frame.

6. In combination, a railing, a light and support therefor comprising, a channel member secured to the underside of said railing, a pin in said channel member, a bracket having a key hole slot therein engaging said pin and dependingly supporting said bracket inside said channel, a lighting element secured to said bracket, a lens covering one side of said lighting element, and a lens frame detachably secured to said channel and engaging the outer edges of said lens.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,950,250 Kinney Mar. 6, 1934 2,052,654 Ponath Sept. l, 1936 2,332,362 Bartow Oct. 19, 1943 2,479,500 Longberg Aug. 16, 1949 2,567,528 Rosenthal Sept. 11, 1951 2,597,060 Boutelle et al. May 20, 1952 rp. 1.a.. 

